


Rebuilding the Hale House

by LaBelleetlaloup



Series: Rebuilding the Hale House [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Always Female Stiles Stilinski, F/M, Fem!Stiles - Freeform, Gen, Pack Dynamics, Pack Mother Stiles Stilinski, Werewolf Mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2015-05-02
Packaged: 2018-03-26 18:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3859969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaBelleetlaloup/pseuds/LaBelleetlaloup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter and Stiles conspire together to re-build the Hale House because the loft is too small.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Surprise for Derek

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this was originally intended to be a long fic but my follow through is lacking. So I’m posting the bits relevant to “Rebuilding the Hale House”. I think I’ve made them all comprehensible without needing the whole thing.
> 
> Basically, the relevant back story is that no one died and Scott is still a beta. Also, Peter was feral so he’s mostly a pretty good guy but everyone’s still a bit or a lot wary of him. Derek is the alpha. Oh, and Cora stayed after she showed up, also she had been in NYC with Derek/Laura because it was simpler. I think that’s all you need.

Stiles had barely gotten her things settled after getting home from lacrosse practice, to find her dad already left for work, when the doorbell rang. She absently wondered who it was, suspecting a neighbor bearing food as she hurried to the door.

“Coming!” she called out as she reached the entryway. Then she opened the door to find Peter on the other side.

“I want to do something for Derek and it would be a lot easier with help,” Peter announced.

“What kind of something?” Stiles demanded.

“May I come inside before we continue discussing this?” Peter raised one eyebrow to give her a mildly judgmental expression. Stiles stood aside and nodded, closing the door behind him, a little shocked when he only stood quietly in the entryway.

“What is it you want to do for Derek?”

“It’s a surprise. Will you keep it from him until we’re done?” Peter countered.

“As long as it’s a good surprise,” she agreed, “What is it?”

“I bought back the Hale Preserve from the county and I want to at least rebuild the house, maybe add a couple of cottages out back. The pack needs a proper gathering place and the loft may be convenient for Isaac and Cora to get to school, but it won’t work long-term.” Peter made his speech and subsided, waiting for Stiles’ reaction. She was stunned. It was as though he had heard her thoughts over the past month. The loft was only a stop-gap in their need for a pack den, not really functioning well in that capacity. Just with Cora, Derek, Peter, and Isaac living there, they were too crowded. Isaac now slept up on the loft with Peter because Cora had taken over his room.

“It won’t upset Derek that someone else made his den?” Stiles asked. Peter grinned. They both knew she would help him.

“Since I’m not just pack, but family, I won’t smell like an intruder, and we both know Derek has a soft spot for you,” Peter replied. “So it wouldn’t be like just anyone doing it, but I think it won’t bother him at all. I mean, unless we do something entirely out of his taste.”

“You have my full cooperation, Peter,” Stiles announced with a grin.

“Thank you,” Peter smiled at her, “I knew you were my favorite for a reason.”

“Alright, I noticed an ad for a local contracting company that had a symbol like a pack symbol for their logo a little while back,” Stiles muttered, opening up the internet on her phone. “Here it is. Do you recognize it? I think we might better get what we want if we’re working with wolves instead of people. They’ll understand.”

“Yes, we used to have a loose connection with them, the Ruiz pack,” Peter nodded, looking at the symbol on the phone. “I wasn’t the only one thinking about this, then?” Stiles shook her head.

“The loft was a stop-gap but it’s not a home for the pack the way it should be. Yeah, it’s at least a real apartment instead of an abandoned ruin, but it’s still way too small.”

“Alright, I’ll get in touch with the Ruiz pack and see what they’re willing to do and at what price. We were always on neutral or good terms, so hopefully they’ll be willing to come into our territory and build for us.”

“Sounds good,” Stiles agreed, fidgeting with wanting Peter to leave. He looked at her for a moment and started towards the door.

“I’ll go ahead and take my leave before I outstay my welcome,” he announced, “I’ll make the appropriate calls and get back to you when I have some more information.” With that, he opened the door and left. Stiles sighed happily at the idea of doing this for Derek. He deserved some good surprises.


	2. Derek Worries

It had only been a few weeks since Peter had first approached her with his idea for a surprise for Derek and the pack when Stiles came home from school to find Derek waiting impatiently in her bedroom. She quickly shut the door out of habit, even though her father wasn’t home that time.

“What are you doing here?” Stiles asked worriedly, “Is something wrong? Also, what is wrong with using doors?”

“I…” Derek was obviously very uncomfortable, looking anywhere but at her and fidgeting. “I’m worried.”

“What are you worried about? This isn’t a supernatural big bad, then?” Stiles settled into her desk chair, letting her book bag fall to the floor beside the desk, as Derek paced.

“No, um, I don’t think it’s a supernatural threat,” Derek winced at himself. “It’s just… I’ve noticed you’re spending time with Peter and I’m worried he might be taking advantage of you, Stiles.” Derek’s words came out all in a rush and it took Stiles a moment to process. Then she stood and flung her arms around the stunned Alpha.

“He’s not taking advantage of me, or at least not hurting me. He wanted to do a surprise for you and he asked me to help because he knew I would be able to keep it a secret. So there is a surprise and it’s a good surprise that won’t hurt anyone and you need to just trust me that it’s okay and I’m not being coerced or tricked into being evil.” Stiles spoke all in a rush as well, but Derek was more used to her doing so and immediately understood, noticing that at some point his arms had wrapped around his human pack member to keep her close.

“I trust you, Stiles, but Peter is very tricky,” Derek reminded her, “As much as he is my uncle and I love him, we really shouldn’t trust him blindly.”

“He made sure to park outside and use the front door when he came over to ask me and never came farther in than the entryway,” Stiles mentioned. “I really do think this surprise is mainly goodwill on his part. Can you please trust me? If I lose time or think something’s off, I will come to you first thing and tell you everything, but until then, can you just trust that the surprise is good?”

“Alright, the surprise is good and you aren’t in immediate danger, Stiles,” Derek conceded.

“Thank you for worrying about me,” Stiles mumbled into his chest. Without his werewolf hearing, Derek would never have even heard it, much less understood. He just pressed a chaste kiss to the top of her head in acknowledgement.

“I should get back to the loft before I worry Isaac,” Derek reminded both of them, stepping back and towards the window.

“Yeah, give Isaac my love,” Stiles replied, “Run safe.” Derek shook his head to hide his small smile at her words as he left through the window.

It was a few days later before it came up with anyone else. There was a pack meeting and Stiles was doing something with Peter for their surprise, so both were running late.

“Is Stiles out with Peter?” Jackson asked, feigning a nonchalance they all knew he didn’t really feel.

“I talked to Stiles about it a few days ago,” Derek admitted. “She says they’re working on something, a surprise, but it’s good and won’t hurt anyone.”

“Is she sure about that?” Lydia asked snidely.

“Stiles said she would come to us,” he felt that was better than saying him, “if she got the slightest impression that things were not as they seemed.”

“Peter is completely trustworthy,” Cora snapped. “What’s wrong with all of you?” Everyone ignored her.

“I guess we just need to trust her judgment for now,” Scott pointed out.

“I trust Momma,” Isaac said valiantly, earning smiles from the room.

“I’m glad to hear it, baby,” Stiles replied as she let herself into the room, ending up with an armful of Isaac. Peter followed her more sedately, though he was radiating smugness.

“Your errands go well?” Derek asked.

“Yes,” Peter replied curtly, “And there’s Stiles, safe and sound.”

“You make sure she stays that way,” Derek growled under his breath. Peter inclined his head in tacit submission.

“Alright, what’d I miss?” Stiles asked, emerging from Isaac’s embrace.

“Nothing important,” Derek replied.

“Yeah,” Jackson nodded, following his lead, “We were just wondering where you and Peter were, but here you are.” It was enough of the truth to keep them from forgetting what they had said but vague enough that Stiles would hopefully not realize exactly what they had been discussing regarding her and Peter’s whereabouts.

“So, anyone got indications of a supernatural big bad for the week?” Erica asked laughingly, successfully changing the subject.

The subject was dropped, and though Peter and Stiles continued to interact, it seemed Stiles was right and he meant her no harm, whatever their surprise was.


	3. Werewolf Contractors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The very first part of this is chronologically before chapter two. However, it continues through to almost the end of the chronological timeline. So it's here for convenience.

It was no time at all, only a couple of days, before Stiles’ phone was ringing. It was a local number, but not one she recognized. However, she had been expecting Peter to get in touch with her, so she took the call.

“Hello?”

“Stiles, it’s Peter,” he answered, “I got in touch with Ruiz pack and they agreed to come look at the clearing and give us an estimate. However, they just informed me they want you there, so they are on their way and I am here at the old homestead. Can you get over here somewhat rapidly?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Stiles started gathering her things to head out to the car: purse, keys, wolfsbane pepper spray. “I guess they heard about how you almost went omega and want someone with better standing, since I assume they know it’s a surprise for Derek?”

“Yes, that was the feeling I got,” Peter replied, soundly mildly irked.

“Well, I’m on my way, so try to control your temper, yeah?” Stiles was joking but completely serious.

“It’s a good thing you’re my favorite, since you’re so high in the pack structure and bossy,” Peter commented absently.

“Well, I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Stiles replied as she climbed into the jeep and hung up. She knew what Peter meant. Derek had a blatant soft spot for her, in spite of his posturing and wall-slamming. Since he was the Alpha, it put her pretty high up in the pack structure. Derek allowed her liberties that were usually restricted to the Alpha’s mate. Thankfully, even with Isaac starting to call her Momma for her role as unofficial pack mom, none of the rest of the pack had yet commented on it, at least to her, aside from Peter’s oblique insinuations, because Derek had really not confirmed or denied a thing and she had no idea what to tell them. She was soon pulling up the drive to the old Hale House, gravel flying under her speeding car.

“Stiles, there you are,” Peter sounded relieved as she climbed out of the car, likely because there were four other werewolves standing around a truck, watching them closely.

“Peter, have you already insulted them?” Stiles chided, “I thought I told you to mind your temper. I was only five minutes away before they got here.”

“I did mind my temper,” Peter grumbled and Stiles bit back an amused smile at his expense.

“Hello, I’m sorry if Peter’s been remiss in welcoming you. He’s a little rough around the edges. I’m Stiles,” she introduced herself to the contractors.

“I’m Lucas,” the Alpha stepped forward and extended a hand tentatively. Stiles shook and then he introduced his Betas. “This is my brother and second, Carlos, my son, Enrique, and my nephew, Fernando.”

“Thank you so much for coming, it really is a pleasure to meet with another pack on friendly terms,” Stiles smiled. Peter chuckled quietly as he entered the conversation.

“Well, as I said, the Argent bitch burnt it to a husk, so we probably need to just knock it down and start over,” Peter shrugged.

“Peter!” Stiles chided, “Honestly. I know you had to have been raised better than this.” That was hardly the way to begin a conversation.

Peter subsided but spoke again, “The house is still standing, but I doubt the structure is in good condition. I can smell dry rot.”

“As can I,” Lucas cut in smoothly. “Peter is likely correct in his assumption about demolishing the house. We can work at all speed, if you wish, as this is a surprise and your Alpha will likely notice us sooner rather than later, but calling in more of the pack will mean a higher fee for labor.”

“Cost is less important than rebuilding, doing this for Derek,” Stiles said decisively. She knew Peter had plenty of money to throw around.

“We’re currently rebuilding the pack out of a loft apartment. I’ll pay whatever you need to get this done quickly,” Peter admitted. Lucas eyed him with more respect.

“I’ll call in the whole pack for you, Hale,” he said, “That’s no kind of life. We can probably get the house completely done in two or three months, depending on availability of materials and your flexibility in your choices.”

“Peter and I were discussing adding a couple cottages out behind the house,” Stiles interrupted, “The pack is mainly bitten wolves on the cusp of adulthood right now, so they would feel more comfortable in their own structure, but near the pack. How much extra time will that take?”

“That’d be about three or four months for everything, depending on weather, materials, and how many of these cottages you want.” Lucas seemed quietly impressed, Stiles noticed.

“I was thinking five,” Peter suggested. “I think I’ll probably end up in one and Scott definitely won’t want to stay in the house. Erica and Boyd will likely want their own space in the next couple years for their cubs and Jackson won’t want to move Lydia into the house as his wife. That leaves one extra.”

Stiles nodded. “Isaac will want to stay in the house and so will Cora,” she agreed. The conversation turned to prices and timelines and blueprints. The contracting wolf pack would come back the next day, with just Peter now that they felt welcomed, to demolish the house and start rebuilding. Stiles would just spend her research time learning how to make runes carved into stone protect a house over the long term, and the pack would find out once they were done.

They ended up continuing the five theme into the bedrooms and redesigning the layout of the house to help avoid Derek’s ghosts and better fit the pack’s needs. The lodestones with the runes were hidden in hollowed rocks like geodes before being imbedded in the foundation to protect the home and specific rooms: the whole house had overly-strong runes to protect it from fire, floods, earthquakes, and attacks, the library had additional fire and water damage protection as well as a shield around the shelves for flying objects, each bedroom had a sound-proofing combination that went into effect whenever the door was shut, the kitchen had special protection from electrical shorts, while the basement had notice-me-not runes on the door. This was because the basement was made into a ridiculously well-protected panic room, with its own ventilation system that could transform carbon dioxide into oxygen just in case of emergencies.

The main house itself went up quickly, in six weeks for a basement-panic-room, two storeys and a finished attic, but the interior materials caused more of a delay. During these delays, the cottages popped up, cute two-storey, 2000sqft buildings behind the imposing main house, as well as a pool house with an indoor pool for the humans of the pack next to the pond at the far edge of the clearing.

Amusingly, it quickly became a thing that Peter called Stiles to show up whenever there was a point of contention about a design choice versus convenience for the Ruiz pack. The first time had completely taken Stiles aback. She had been leaving lacrosse practice when he called, a couple weeks after Derek had been told that a surprise existed.

“What is it?” Stiles asked, “I’m leaving lacrosse practice.”

“There’s a minor thing I want to discuss with you about Derek’s surprise,” Peter replied. She could hear a pointed silence on his end that meant the other wolves were being quiet, especially since she had heard vague noises in the background for a moment after she took the call.

“I’ll be there in a minute, then,” Stiles agreed, knowing it was best not to go into details with half the pack by her side. None of them could or would keep secrets from the Alpha.

“I sent you a text earlier, so check your messages,” Peter said and hung up. She eyed her phone in confusion. There was no message. One pinged in a moment later.

They’re being ridiculous about the cabinets we want being unavailable locally and shipping costs. Can you come straighten them out? They believe you’re Derek’s mate / the Alpha mate and are afraid to upset you in case Derek takes it as a personal affront. PH

That explained it all, and she definitely knew how they got that idea. Who else but the Alpha’s mate or a near Omega could keep something from him? She sent back a terse response and took her leave of her pack to go passive-aggressively threaten another into submission.

It became a routine. Peter would call to get her attention and then send a message with the real information. Stiles would show up and express her disappointment about the situation and make a bit of a temper about choosing something else and suddenly Lucas, Carlos, Enrique or Fernando was assuring her that what she had wanted was of course available and there had merely been a misunderstanding. She and Peter had entirely taken advantage of the situation. After all, why not when it was so useful and harmless?

The cabinets you wanted are too expensive to ship? Oh, I had my heart set on those too, but I suppose I could get these plain ones instead. They aren’t really the shade I wanted for the stain and these whirls are a bit too feminine, but it’ll do. Suddenly: Oh, no, we can manage to haggle the shipping costs.

The tub you wanted for the upstairs bedroom will be too bulky and heavy to get up the stairs? Well, I suppose I could go find another, or get a more standard tub, but that one just really pulled the theme together and really, what’s a princess room without a ridiculously over-sized tub in the bathroom? But it is just a tub, after all. Suddenly: Oh, no, we’re werewolves, we can get it up the stairs for you. It won’t be a big thing.

The full size refrigerator you want is twice the cost we thought it was and only available from one store in Quebec? Oh, I could find another, but it just fit with the rest of the appliances and it needs to be just a refrigerator if we have a freezer right next to it. That’d look silly, and werewolves eat a lot, so there needs to be plenty of room so Isaac won’t feel like he’s taking the last of the food, since he’s my baby. Suddenly: Of course, we can talk to them and just eat some of the price discrepancy, since we did give you a figure.

Of course, it was never more obvious that the Ruiz pack believing Stiles was the Alpha mate was ridiculously helpful than when Stiles and Peter had been honest-to-goodness discussing how to juggle getting the furniture delivered and set up in the right rooms without involving the pack and the other werewolves offered to rent a truck or two at no cost to Peter and go pick up all the furniture and bring it back to the house and set it up. Peter and Stiles did not turn down the free help, both more than glad to let the others do the heavy lifting while they directed the action.


	4. Nursery Shopping is Awkward

Stiles and Peter realized they really had not thought this idea through the moment they stepped into the baby store. They had made designated space for three nurseries in the main house and it would look weird to have empty rooms, so they had to at least get a crib, changing station thing, and snuggly chair, maybe rockers, maybe small loveseats. They had thought since there was only one baby store in town that it would be simpler and they would be able to get it out of the way before the pack meeting that evening, since there was little else they could do but shop with the house still unfinished. However, it was painfully obvious that everyone else was pregnant, was with someone pregnant, or had a registry list in their hand. After a quick exchange of glances, they forced themselves to stroll in like at any other furniture store. It really should not reflect poorly on them that they were being proactive, even though they knew it would if people started making assumptions.

“This was rather hugely underestimated,” Stiles murmured as they meandered amongst the cribs. “I feel very uncomfortable.”

“Think about how I feel,” Peter murmured back. “This one looks nice.” Stiles paused to look, and she had to admit he was right. Oddly enough, aside from that one armchair that had to have been a joke, Peter had great taste and she was almost enjoying furniture shopping with him for the pack den.

“It’s an option,” she nodded, “We can narrow down to three or four after we’ve seen everything.”

“Four?” Peter gave her a teasing grin with his feigned confused tone.

“Well, the “hers” side of Derek’s closet is empty and there’s no reason not to pick up one for him if we see one,” Stiles replied, shaking her head, “Besides, the way his luck goes, he’d end up with a newborn left on the stoop from a one night stand he didn’t remember.”

“True, we’d be doing him a favor getting it all together for him before this theoretical tart drops the burden on him,” Peter side-eyed her with a smirk. Stiles giggled. Peter, in public with the threat of his creepiness greatly reduced, was actually amusing and she was starting to see how he could have been the cool uncle before the fire.

“He’ll never want to admit it though, because he’ll have been all growly about it and what if my future wife would want to pick out her own crib, Stiles? But then I’ll just be like, see, I have noticed that you have only bad luck, so I was prepared.”

“Like a proper boy scout,” Peter inserted.

“His face would be priceless.”

“What is this thing?”

“Ohmigerd, it stinks!”

“What am I supposed to do with this?” They both broke down into quiet fits of laughter at the idea of Derek handling a newborn babe dropped on his front stoop.

“He’d call me at one in the morning, and be all, it won’t sleep!” Stiles stated as she caught her breath. Peter chuckled.

“He really would.”

“Are you shopping for a shower?” a perky associate interrupted them.

“No, we’re remodeling a house and there’s designated space for nurseries, so there needs to be something to fill the space,” Peter explained smoothly. Really, they were starting from the ground up, but that was just semantics and might concern the saleslady. She was already eyeing them askance for their age difference. The explanation put her at ease and she was fairly helpful in pointing out what was likely to coordinate between different collections.

They had found more than plenty of sets they liked before they left and it had been tough to narrow down to just the four, but they had done it and Peter paid for their order before they left, both just realizing they were late for a pack meeting and needed to hurry.


	5. Almost Caught

The whole pack was crowded into Derek’s loft for a pack bonding meeting. There was no threat that week, so they were just chit chatting with the TV on in the background. Peter was mainly hanging out in one of the bedrooms, which was an office of sorts, emailing back and forth with Lucas on his phone. Stiles was munching and talking to Erica and trying not to ogle Derek, who thought that pack bonding time was a great time to walk around shirtless when Peter forwarded her one of the emails. The stone they wanted for the patio around the pond and the stone for the pool house had both just arrived! Stiles shrieked with joy, making all the wolves whine and wince and cover their ears.

“I know, right?” Peter called out, grinning at her, “I’ve got pictures! Come see it. It’s absolutely gorgeous.” Stiles jumped up to run and see, only to find herself not moving. Derek had grabbed the back of her shirt.

“Sit down, Stiles,” he ordered.

“I’m not one of your Betas,” Stiles pointed out, “I don’t have to listen to you. Besides, I’m just going into the other room, to see something one of your Betas wanted to show me. Aren’t we supposed to bond with everyone?” Derek growled as he let go of her shirt.

“Fine,” he snapped, “But I’m coming with you.”

“Derek, it’s hardly anything untoward. It’s just a picture.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Derek replied. Stiles whined softly, begging him with her eyes to let it go. Derek cursed under his breath and waved her on. “Stop undermining my authority, Stiles.”

“Don’t worry, everyone else is still scared of the Big Bad Sourwolf,” Stiles teased, hurrying to Peter’s side.

“Here it is,” Peter passed her his phone.

“Oh my goddess, it’s gorgeous. This is even better than what I thought it was going to be,” Stiles grinned at Peter, flipping the phone to email Lucas her approval.

“That is my phone,” Peter groused, though his look was fond. She was his favorite.

“Whatcha looking at?” Scott asked, trying to peer over Stiles’ shoulder. She was having none of it.

“Scott, get out,” Peter ordered, irritated with no one trusting him.

“But what are you showing her? Is it something that will hypnotize her into being your slave?” Scott demanded worriedly. Both Peter and Stiles gave Scott a judgmental look before Isaac dragged him back out of the room. Stiles typed a quick sentence on Peter’s phone before handing it back.

_We should wait until after pack time to discuss this next time._

Peter nodded, he was in complete agreement. This wouldn’t be a good surprise if someone spoiled it half-way through. Derek would just stress and worry and think it was because he wasn’t a good Alpha that Stiles and Peter had started it. It would just cause problems. Lots of problems.


	6. Paint Colors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally part of a planned long fic with lots of brief villains. At one point Derek got possessed by one of them and Stiles kissed him to "break the spell". There is an oblique reference to that in this chapter-so FYI, that's what Stiles is trying not to think about.

“Stiles,” Peter was on the other end of the phone when she picked up.

“Peter, what’s up?” Stiles smiled as she set her just finished homework in her book.

“I was thinking we should go pick out paints. We’ve got an idea, anyway, of what everything’s going to look like and everything’s about built. I’m hoping we’ll get help from Lucas and his pack getting it on the wall.”

“Yeah, I actually just finished my homework. If you say you know, I’m not coming with you,” Stiles replied. She much preferred not to think about how much of creepers the Hales were, because really, Derek was as bad as Peter about being places and knowing things he shouldn’t.

“I’ll be over there in five minutes?” Peter asked instead, sounding amused.

“To where?” Derek spoke in the background.

“Sounds good,” Stiles replied, “Hi, Derek!” She knew he could easily hear her and it was easiest to just say hello.

“What are you doing with Stiles?” Derek asked suspiciously.

“I’m not hurting her, Derek,” Peter replied. “Leaving in a minute, Stiles.”

“What?” Derek sounded outraged.

“Alright, and Dad’s at work, so just pull right up front,” Stiles laughed as she hung up. She gathered her books back into her bag before heading down to wait on Peter in the entryway. He was soon in the drive, so Stiles hurried out and jumped into the car with him.

“Hey,” Peter grinned as she buckled in.

“So, what did Derek say about you taking me to an undisclosed location?” Stiles grinned back.

“He gave me that look, you know the judgmental glare he has, but he didn’t say anything.”

“I’ll expect him to be in my room when I get back, then,” Stiles laughed, “He’s such a mess of an Alpha.”

“That’s exactly why we, the unwanted Beta and the human, are rebuilding the pack den on the preserve while Derek is chilling in an apartment with a bunch of teenagers.”

“I know, like I cannot wait until Isaac and Derek see the new house,” she smirked, “I cannot wait to see their faces.” The rest of the pack had their own houses and were in less need of a better pack den for the moment. Well, Cora didn’t, but Stiles really didn’t care about her. She was mean.

“Me neither,” Peter smiled, “I know that everyone else just sees me as the crazy one that caused all these problems, but I really do care about Derek and this pack and this is going to make them so happy.”

“But I’m your favorite,” Stiles teased.

“You’re my favorite,” Peter agreed, “I wish you’d taken the bite from me. You’d be a way better wolf than any of the rest of them. You’d be a better Alpha than Derek.”

“Derek will be a fine Alpha once he gets his head on straight,” she defended him.

“You mean he’ll be a fine Alpha once he finally accepts that you’re his mate and lets you tell him what to do,” Peter teased.

“I am not,” Stiles protested, grinning and blushing.

“We both know that the other pack wouldn’t believe you were if you weren’t,” Peter pointed out, “Besides, Derek gives you all sorts of mate privileges. He’s just got commitment issues.”

“Oh, hush, you’ll get my hopes up,” Stiles joked, pointedly not thinking about the possession-kiss incident that was all too recent.

“Yeah, wouldn’t want that,” Peter laughed as he pulled into the parking lot of the local hardware store.

“Peter, stop,” Stiles shook her head as she hopped out of the truck.

“Fine, I’ll drop it,” Peter grinned, “Let’s go shopping, my dear.”

Since they had already bought most of the furniture, they knew what the color palettes were for each room and they decided on specific shades relatively quickly, joking and laughing.

They had both loosened up around the other, becoming pack, each understanding the other better. Because no one else knew, their secret project had also bound them together in shared excitement and anticipation and stress. However, this loosening up between the pair had made the rest of the pack nervous, thinking Peter was using Stiles for some nefarious purpose.

Therefore, Derek was in Stiles’ room when she got back a couple hours later, as she had expected. She walked into the house, greeted her dad and told him goodnight, then headed up the stairs to find Derek sitting in her desk chair, thumbing through one of her books.

“I’m fine,” she broke the silence as she closed the door behind her back.

“Good,” Derek looked up, letting his eyes rake slowly over her to verify the truth of her words.

“We’re just bonding as pack,” Stiles told him.

“That’s not quite true,” Derek shook his head, standing up and crossing the room to her side. “You don’t have to tell me what you’re doing, but I don’t like you going off with Peter. He’s dangerous. Don’t forget he killed my sister.”

“I know full well what Peter’s capable of, Derek,” Stiles smiled tentatively at him. Derek gave her a half smile in return.

“As long as you know, and you’re fine,” Derek replied. “See you tomorrow at the pack meeting, Stiles.” He left through the window and Stiles sank to the floor so she wouldn’t run to the window to watch him leave. She might be half in love with him, but she knew better than to be less than cautious. She could easily slide to desperately in love with him in the space of a thoughtless heartbeat. Damn that werewolf.


	7. The Big Reveal

After four months of sneaking and planning and waiting and fretting and work, the entire complex was finished. The main house was painted, furnished and ready, as were all five of the cottages. Even the pool house had been finished and the area on one side of the pond made more people-friendly with a patio and seating. The surprise was finally done. Peter and Stiles immediately drove over to the loft, hoping everyone would be there, since it was a Saturday. It was already late and the sun had set, but they were in luck and the entire pack was still lounging in the apartment when they walked in, radiating smug excitement.

“What?” Derek asked as they came in.

“Your surprise is finally done,” Stiles replied, grinning entirely too broadly. She just couldn’t wait to see his reaction to having a proper home again. Derek cocked his head in confusion.

“I thought it hadn’t panned out. That was months ago.”

“Well, sometimes good things take time to accomplish,” Peter chided.

“Don’t you want to see?” Stiles asked, eager to show off her hard work.

“Yeah, where is it?” Derek agreed.

“If I told you, it might ruin the surprise. Are you willing to take a field trip? The whole pack can come, but we’re putting you in blindfolds.” Peter stated all this matter-of-factly. Only Stiles’ innocent excitement consoled them that Peter was probably not doing this so he could kill them all in the woods somewhere. Though it took some promises and wheedling from Stiles, the pack finally agreed and everyone piled into Peter’s van, blindfolds in hand. Stiles got the passenger seat and Peter was driving. Derek sat on the back bench, Cora in his lap, with Isaac, Jackson and Lydia. Scott, Allison, Erica and Boyd took the middle bench. After ascertaining that everyone had their blindfolds on, Peter started off for their new home.

Stiles was shifting constantly in anticipation and Peter kept glancing over to share a grin with her. About halfway there, Derek spoke up.

“Stiles, stop shifting, you’re making Isaac nervous.”

“Oh, sorry I’m worrying you, Derek, I’m just excited,” Stiles replied. She saw right through that bald-faced lie about it being Isaac getting nervous. He would just ask for her if he was. Derek growled a little at her calling his bluff, but even that could not dampen her spirits. All the wolves looked confused when they finally stopped the car with the clearing just around the bend.

“Why are we on the preserve?” Scott asked as they all fumbled out of their belts.

“What’s going on?” Cora demanded.

“Oh, go ahead and take the blindfolds off,” Peter announced airily, impatient for them to see.

“You’ll see, Scott,” Stiles was grinning. You could just barely see the house through the trees. Derek gasped and took off running in the direction of the clearing the moment his blindfold was off and the rest of the pack followed. By the time Stiles had raced up, Derek was on his knees, staring up at the building in awe.

“You built me a house,” he whispered reverently as she reached his side. Stiles grinned at the joy and awe on his face.

“Well, Peter hired werewolf contractors, the Ruiz pack, and they built the house, but Peter and I designed it, yeah. There’re tons of runic protections carved into the stones that I figured out. I figured you might want a bit of extra help keeping it in one piece, what with your track record for evil following you home,” Stiles was babbling. Derek touched her hand and she shut up.

“Thank you,” Derek said, looking her straight in the eyes as he slowly stood back up. Peter smirked smugly. Cora was speechless by her brother’s side. Stiles let herself smirk as well.

“Well, don’t you want to go inside?” he asked.

“I don’t want to think about having to furniture shop yet,” Derek replied.

“That’s why we furnished it for you,” Stiles announced with a grin, “There’s paint on the walls and pictures, and all the rooms have furniture and rugs and lighting. Peter already set up all the utilities, so water, electric, internet, TV, it all works.”

“Move-in ready, I believe the phrase is,” Peter agreed. Derek stared at them before leaping forward and nearly tearing the door open in excitement. Stiles ran after him, finding him staring wonderingly at the den.

“It’s not the same,” he stated, a question in his tone. “I mean, I knew it was stone, but the rooms are moved.”

“So you can make new memories,” Stiles replied. Derek smiled tentatively at her, nodding as he turned back to the room.

“New memories are good,” he murmured absently. “Show me around. What’d you create?” Derek was smiling at her almost as though he was proud.

“Well, obviously this is the living room. You passed the library on your way here, I don’t know if you noticed.” Stiles led him back out of that room by the hand and into the library. The pack was trailing behind them as Stiles led the grand tour, focused mostly on Derek. The library overflowing with books made everyone smile, but Derek grinned at the protections Stiles had put in. The huge, rustic table in the dining room made Scott laugh. Derek was quietly overwhelmed by the kitchen, which had been fully stocked with pots, pans, dishes, and food. The office had made Lydia nearly insane with jealousy, babbling on about how she wanted one. The crib and changing table in the one closet in the master suite had nearly made Derek cry and he had closed the door silently. Stiles refrained from comment, just putting a hand on his sleeve in silent comfort. Everyone had oohed and aahed over the themed bedrooms upstairs. Isaac loved his blue room. Boyd and Erica liked the colorful one planned for them. The girls admired the princess room and Cora, as anticipated, laid claim to it. Jackson and Lydia liked the modern one. Everyone liked the Zen room.

Then Stiles and Peter herded them out to the back to see the cottages and the pool house. Scott was ecstatic and leapt into the air, yipping happily. Jackson smiled knowingly at Lydia, but was much calmer than Scott. Peter pointed out his home and then Stiles led them into the next one, the one Jackson would like. He did. It was his favorite even after he saw the rest. Scott liked the last house best. Erica and Boyd had seemed a little partial to the Art Deco cottage. Derek laughed at Stiles’ indoor pool and “people-friendly” patio, while Allison and Lydia beamed, but he understood her reasoning. There were already three official pack members with no intention of ever taking the bite, and Danny was leaning that way too, not to mention Scott’s mother and Stiles’ father if she ever figured out how to tell him.

All in all, it was almost exactly as Peter and Stiles had expected their reactions to be. Peter, though, had not expected his nephew to be this overwhelmed. He wondered if it was because the boy had never been oblivious about Stiles being his mate, they had discussed it ages ago. Stiles had certainly proven to Peter that she most likely knew exactly what her place was in the pack, through her ordering him around and not correcting the other pack, regardless of her usual lack of action on the matter. It would certainly be overwhelming for a wolf to have his mate make him a home, especially for an Alpha with a pack den, knowing that he had not yet even claimed her. Peter had wondered at the time if Stiles getting a nursery set for Derek was a quiet acknowledgment or something of the like and perhaps it had been. For all their getting closer and his teasing her about her pack status, it was hard to get a read on the girl. They all migrated back to the living room, making a puppy pile on the oversized sectional and quietly communing with the smells of the new den until curfews broke up the party by sending everyone back to the apartment for their cars and then to their houses. Stiles’ dad was working, and Derek moved his car before going for a run. Peter thought he knew exactly where his nephew was heading while Isaac puttered about the main house alone and Cora went back to the loft with him to start packing their things up for the move.

Stiles had just gotten settled when her window opened and Derek tumbled through, catching himself gracefully.

“I really don’t think I can express how much this means to me, Stiles,” he said. She smiled bashfully. Derek was using his words!

“I had selfish reasons, too,” she teased.

“Oh really?” he replied in a tone almost suggestive, eyebrows raised.

“This way you can’t throw me out,” she rejoined playfully. This more flirty and light-hearted banter had started after Stiles kissed Derek out of a possession, but it never went farther than words.

“I would never throw you out,” Derek told her, the tips of his fingers grazing her cheek before he quickly pulled his hand back. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but something else came out instead.

“Who would you have to slog through hours of ancient Latin for you if you did, right?”

It seemed the words wouldn’t come out on his end either, as he looked just as surprised by his reply as she had been, “You know I have to have someone who doesn’t submit when I growl at them. Otherwise it’s too boring.” They both heard her dad pull into the driveway.

“You should go, my dad’s home.”

“Come to the house tomorrow, it’ll be empty with just me, Cora and Isaac,” Derek said spontaneously as he crossed to the window.

“I will,” Stiles nodded as Derek swung back through the window and her dad called out to her.

“Stiles? I’m home!”

“Upstairs in my room!” After a couple more shouts, her dad went to bed. Stiles followed soon afterwards, as Isaac would likely wake her up early in the morning wanting company anyway.


	8. Ruiz Pack Alliance

Derek had waited until the afternoon to get in touch with the Ruiz pack to thank them for the pack den, though he had made a point to get the Alpha’s number from Peter the night before. He and Lucas had a pleasant phone conversation and brought up the topic of alliances naturally, both favoring the idea because of proximity. No Alpha wanted to be on bad terms with the closest packs, because no one could warn you before they were already in your territory, attacking your Betas. It was careless and indicative of a bad Alpha not to at least try to get along with nearby packs. Even the strong pack they sheltered with in New York had non-agression agreements with packs as far away from them as Boston and Augusta.

After the two Alphas had met a couple times over a meal, switching off treating, they ended up with more of a non-agression pact with a clause of general aid during outside attacks than a traditional alliance, but Derek was not going to argue. They were at least on good terms with this nearby pack and Scott never got a chance to interact with them and offend someone. He decided it was a win on all counts, especially since the pack was fond of his mate and knew exactly what she was. There had been a side-tracked conversation about Stiles that Lucas had brought up, wondering about his lack of claiming his mate. Derek had shrugged and mentioned the age gap and her age, as well as quietly slipping in the small details of her father being the local Sheriff and already not fond of him. Lucas had immediately understood and changed the subject. They were as much human as wolf after all, and human laws and social mores had to be taken into account, no matter how badly it made your wolf howl.


End file.
